So Say We All
by stevebond1990
Summary: 1 year after the defeat of the Reapers, The Normandy leads a council survey fleet into the Sol Relay Dead Zone. They don't know what to expect or if something will find them.
1. Chapter 1

So Say We All

Lieutenant Commander Jack Carmine checked his instruments for the 7th time since completing his first jump. He looked out through his canopy when he saw that the instrument readings hadn't changed. "You still there LC?" Joker's voice filling the cramped cockpit.  
"I'm still here Joker, nothing to report yet." Carmine replied, "Just letting the scanners do their job, while I stare out into the big black."  
"Good, we just started getting the sensor telemetry and the techs are getting excited, some of those asteroids are rich in eezo and another mineral no-one's discovered yet. Also, Shepard wants you ready to bug out in a hurry in case something happens."  
"Copy, Just don't fall behind, I don't want to be on my own if something is out here." Carmine answered. Joker chuckled before assuring him they were only 10 minutes away and Shepard wouldn't abandon her people.

As Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau signed off, Carmine turned to look out the canopy at his fighter's starboard wing, thinking about how he ended up on the Normandy. He'd just signed up with the Alliance, assigned to an Army infantry company under Admiral Kahoku's command. His company had been sent to Edolus but ran into a nest of Thresher Maws, he had been knocked over and then dragged underground by one of the Maws. He'd awoken in a lab with at least one other trooper nearby, which was when Cerberus scientists began to experiment on him. He'd spent over a month in that lab and the scientists had used him to test new cybernetics, including a Titanium bone weave. They also tried a new gene-therapy to induce enhanced ability to heal; that had almost failed, leaving him able to heal faster than an average human, asari or turian but not enough to be considered a success, it simply made it easier for him to be patched up to continue a fight.

Shepard's team had broken in shortly after the pain from the Bone weave implantation faded, wrecking most of the facility and destroying nearly all the test data. The extent of his modifications hadn't become apparent until Dr Chakwas examined him. Her shock had faded fast, confining him to sick bay for a thorough examination, to his displeasure.

Shortly after Chakwas finished, Shepard had visited him, wanting to know more about him. He told her of his service, the ambush, the experiments and the rescue. Shepard had sat there for a moment, thinking, before offering him a place on her ground team or to return him to his previous unit. He had asked for time to consider his decision, which Shepard had given him.

When he learned of Saren's deception, and the potential Reaper threat he decided to remain on the Normandy and help Shepard's team fight the Geth. Shepard then took him aside and told him there were several non-humans on the ground team and asked if this would be a problem; he had replied that he'd never worked with non-humans before but he was willing to in order to complete their mission. Shepard had smiled and welcomed him to the team.

Shortly afterwards he had been picked for his first op, Noveria. He earned the respect of his teammates with his skill with a battle rifle against the Rachni, but he also talked Shepard into sparing the queen, an act the Wrex resented him for.

The next few missions went with few mishaps, until Virmire. He disobeyed orders when Geth reinforcements showed up and went back for Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams and the STG survivors while Shepard and the others rescued Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko. He had bought Ashley and the STG just enough time to escape. His heroics earned him a chewing out from Shepard, but he knew she was glad no-one else had died.

After the theft of the Normandy and Ilos he had stayed behind to keep the Geth from following Shepard into the Presidium Tower. Consequently he was wounded several times and nearly bled out before C-sec and Alliance marines had arrived.

During the aftermath of the Battle of the Citadel, after he'd been discharged from hospital, he'd spent his recovery time helping Engineer Adams in engineering. He quickly got to know Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, the female Quarian machinist that Shephard had recruited into the crew. He enjoyed working with the bubbly Quarian, quickly he found himself finding excuses to spend time with her. The Normandy was attacked before he could work up the courage to ask her out. He made it to one of the last escape pods, he'd had a clear with through the viewing port as the Collector's final salvo destroyed the ship.

After the SR-1 had been destroyed He'd mostly been paired up with Kaiden or Ashley for the next 2 years before receiving a special solo assignment to Admiral Anderson. It had been a quiet posting until rumours of Shepards survival arose. Taking a chance; using the same Extranet e-mail address Anderson used he requested they meet. He waited in Flux for Shepard to show; he hadn't expected her to arrive with two Cerberus regulars at her back. To say he'd been angry was an understatement; however, Shepard had given him a second chance after Edolus, so the least she deserved was a chance to explain.

For several minutes he listened to her story of her last moments, waking up during the attack on Lazarus station, meeting The Illusive Man and the intel collected from Freedom's progress. At the mention of the latest attack, he mentioned that he'd seen a subtle pattern in the attacks: the attacks hitting peaceful colonies, with a stable population, relatively low levels of offworld traffic, relatively untouched by pirates or slavers and all on the edge of direct communications range with both local colonies and colonial militia squadrons or Alliance patrol fleets.

Carmine watched how the Cerberus pair reacted to this information: the dark skinned male had simply looked surprised, while the ivory skinned brunette had shaken slightly, shock glinting in her eyes but outwardly appeared calm. Shepard herself had been amazed at this revelation, marvelling for a few moments on her teammate's deductive capability, before quickly recovering and telling him about the Collectors involvement.

Carmine was worried by that last piece of information; he knew the Collectors had powerful weapons technology (including particle beam cannons), strong biotics and other advanced tech. Any fight with them would be to the death. He also knew that they rarely left the Omega 4 relay, so any increase in activity was cause for alarm.

It was then Shepard had asked if he could join her in her fight against the Collectors. He'd sat there for several moments before swallowing his hatred and fear of Cerberus and said yes, as long as he only answered to her and no-one else. Jane Shepard had smiled and thanked him for helping her again. She then introduced him to his (then) only teammates; Jacob Taylor and Miranda Lawson.

He got a leave of absence from Anderson when Shepard went to see the council; the council provided their usual lack of help until Carmine mentioned the Collector's part in the destruction of the SR-1, correctly citing it as an act of war. The council then decided to provide Shepard the Spectre's resources in order help her mission while promising to assign a Spectre to assist in the Alliance investigation.

As the team returned to the Normandy, Shepard had thanked him for his help with the council, Carmine simply said 'that he did what he had to, just as they would all have to in order to finish this fight. The Collectors play for All or Nothing.' He was then reunited with Joker and introduced to the Ship's AI EDI. He had stiffened slightly when EDI was introduced, but had decided to give her a chance. EDI had thanked him when he quietly spoke his thoughts aloud. This had surprised him, but he took it in stride.

He'd been assigned quarters in the aft port observation deck, just aft of life support. Over the next month he had helped Jane build her team, getting to know the new team members. He'd quickly become friends with Kasumi Goto, Thane Krios, Jacob Taylor and Zaeed Massani along with most of the Cereberus crew. He had saved Garrus from the worst of Tarak's missile fire, but his half-healed wounds had examined by Mordin Solus when they returned, the salarian geneticist had taking an immediate interest in his augmentations, specifically the advanced healing and bone weave. The experience had been unpleasant, but he had allowed it as a favour to Shepard.

Horizon had been a major blow to the remaining Normandy originals morale. Both Williams and Alenko had been there with a small Alliance force. Both had pegged Shepard, Carmine and Garrus as traitors, unable to see past their dealings with Cerberus and the organisation's reputation. That was when Carmine snapped; he angrily accused them of betraying their former CO, of allowing their personal feelings about Cerberus' past to blind them to other possibilities. He finally accused them of betraying those who believed them to be friends, saying 'you would have followed her anywhere, I am following her anywhere. That's the difference between us. Despite my past, despite my own feelings on Cerberus, I can put that aside to follow my Commanding Officer and my friend. You clearly can't. Did we really know you? Because the friends I remember wouldn't hesitate to assist against a pawn of the Reapers, or was it all an elaborate façade? Doesn't matter now I guess I know where my loyalties lie and I have no intention of betraying them.'

He had then turned away and called for pickup, Both Ashley and Kaiden shaken by his outburst. Jane and Garrus had later thanked him for defending them, he replied by saying after everything that they had all been through, he knew that when it mattered they wouldn't leave him twisting in the wind. Both had agreed and they set off for their next mission.

After several missions, stealing a Reaper IFF and a run in with biotic loose-cannon, the collectors struck the Normandy. Joker and EDI saved the ship but not before the crew was abducted, Shepard had decided to go after the Collectors immediately.

Carmine had been on the second distraction team, during the final bug out he'd fallen behind, an explosion had ripped his left arm apart, Zaeed and Thane had come back for him, suppressing the Collectors long enough for them to escape. Unfortunately they had ended on a different outside platform to the rest of the team, quickly cut off by surviving Collectors the three men had returned fire as best they could. After a few minutes a volley of cannon fire drove the Collectors back, they turned around to see a pair of Alliance shuttles approaching. One opened the side door to reveal Ashley Williams and a team from the 103rd. Ashley and her team laid down cover fire while Carmine and the others got aboard.

The final bug out from there was close but they all made it away, no casualties. The trip back through the relay had been in silence, Carmine attempting to nurse his shattered arm with help from the 103rd's medic. Ashley kept glancing over at him; Carmine noticed the concern in her eyes mixed with anxiety. He wasn't surprised; their last meeting had ended badly. He asked what they were doing here; Ashley said Shepard had sent Alliance command several detailed scans of the IFF, allowing them to build one for the frigate SSV Stalingrad which was used to follow them through the Omega 4 relay. They'd seen the Normandy go through but hadn't been fast enough to help in the space battle and could only provide cover for their retreat.

Carmine had thanked her, she had smiled slightly, but the shuttle landed moments later and everyone had scrambled off the cramped craft.

Within seconds the second shuttle landed and the Stalingrad jumped away from the Collector base beside the Normandy.

Carmine had spent the next few months recovering, most of the skin and muscle in his injured arm was beyond saving. The doctors built a cybernetic arm with synthetic muscle tissue and skin.

He was trained to fly the new A-63 Falcon Interceptors and A-65 Lightning long range heavy fighters before being assigned by Anderson to the Normandy.

Following the retreat from Vancouver, he was with Shepard through most of the major battles: Palaven, Sur'Kesh, Tuchanka, The Cerberus coup, Rannoch and Thessia before being assigned to a Lightning squadron before Earth. The squadron achieved a high kill ratio, quickly becoming one of the most famous squadrons in Citadel space.

He managed to meet Shepard before the final push. He wished her luck and promised that, whether they ended up in heaven, hell or somewhere in between, he'd wait for her and the others at bar and the first round was on him. Shepard promised to hold him to that before they began the final attack.

A few hours later, the Reapers began to die: Dreadnoughts falling from orbit, Destroyers keeling over during battle, Harvesters and Ravagers becoming confused and disoriented, Husks, Cannibals, Marauders and Brutes began attacking each other as well as the Citadel races. Seconds before this began the Crucible unleashed an energy blast that destroyed the Citadel's presidium ring and several Mass Relays, the Reapers, the Geth and EDI.

The next few months saw the beginning of the Galaxy's recovery, with the repair of the damaged Primary Mass Relays, the Citadel and clean up starting on all affected worlds. Shepard was found alive in the remains of the Presidium tower, although severely wounded. She was kept in the med-bay of her mother's ship, SSV Orizaba, her survival keeping the new alliances alive.

After three weeks Geth platforms and ships began to reactivate, rebooting an older operating system that lacked the Reaper upgrades, fortunately Legion was reactivated and the Geth Collective Memory was undamaged so they remembered the end of hostilities with the Quarians. The Geth immediately set to work aiding the recovery operations on all affected worlds and helping the Quarians reacclimatise to their home world.

Both the Quarians and the Geth were offered embassies to the new Citadel Council on the newly repaired Citadel, with the new Batarian and Krogan governments also being offered embassies.

After this, it wasn't uncommon to see patrol fleets made up of ships from several species fleets operating together. It was one of these mixed fleets that found and recovered the Normandy and its crew. Shepard and Carmine were waiting on the dockside as the SR-2 approached the repaired Citadel. The reunion with the crew was exciting; no-one had died when Normandy crashed on an uncharted Garden world, EDI had come back online after four weeks just after the Geth, Joker had been relieved she was okay. With her help repairs had continued smoothly until a council squadron located their distress beacon.

As the crew headed towards Flux to celebrate, Garrus told Shepard about the planet they'd crashed on. It was home to the remnants of a fallen civilisation, destroyed by nuclear war. The most interesting part had been when Garrus told them that there were two factions and the first was human. Both Shepard and Carmine had choked on their drinks, Carmine failing to suppress a coughing fit. Kaiden thumped Carmine on the back, backing up Garrus' claim, before adding how excited Liara had been when they had found the ruins of a city. Carmine had smiled, remembering something Joker had once said, 'guessing there had been some bouncing'. Liara had chosen that moment to join them with Joker, EDI and Tali, hearing the end of the joke but not understanding had asked about it. Shepard told her that Garrus and Kaiden had been describing her reaction to the discovery. Joker had tensed up slightly when Carmine smiled at him, and said "I was just channelling one of Jeff's old jokes about your enthusiasm."

Joker had dropped his drink, horrified, when everyone started laughing, even Liara. Liara had joked about her almost childlike excitability about new discoveries, calming Joker down immensely. As EDI left to retrieve another drink for Jeff, Shepard asked about the second race. Liara described the remains of robots, armoured in large unwieldy plates with a strangely shaped head: an exaggerated Stalhelm type helmet with large studs on the top and back, a triangular shaped grill that resembled an early rebreather and a horizontal lens made of thick red glass with a sensor mounted on a rail behind it that swept back and forth.

Carmine had listened very quietly, suddenly becoming very sombre. He quietly left the table, heading out onto the ward. He lent on a railing looking out over the ward, running his hands through his hair; it couldn't be, not after all these years. He hadn't thought about those nightmares since joining up, but Liara's description was too close to be co-incidence, could it?

Then there was that old Sci-fi vid he'd seen as a kid, again the similarities were unreal. He'd believed that the nightmares were a result of seeing that vid at too young an age, but, what if they weren't from the vid? What if those clankers were real? Did that mean he'd witnessed their attack? Had he been captured? Or escaped capture?

As he attempted to rationalise his thoughts, despite his alarmed state, someone came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. Carmine spun around, Thane Krios was standing behind him. The older Drell asked what troubled him. Carmine had built a close friendship with the drell, even allowed his advanced regenerative abilities to be used to cure Thane's condition. He and Mordin had later written a detailed paper on the procedure, the Hanar had picked up on it and asked for permission to use the technique, permission was granted but Mordin had told them the cure had been directly synthesised from Carmines blood and while he was willing to provide a sample, a synthetic alternative was needed for a practical treatment.

He had turned to his friend said it was nothing, just trying to understand why Liara's latest discovery paralleled an old nightmare. He had then walked with his friend back to the party.

Three weeks later, Normandy had been assigned to the fleet covering the dig site, part of a separate frigate squadron that was mapping the otherwise uncharted area to the galactic south-west of Sol. An area commonly referred to as the Sol (or Terran) dead zone, due to the lack of any Mass Relays, Primary or Secondary, in that area. This was the very reason he was now in the cockpit of an A-65 Lightning scanning everything along his flight path.

"Prepping for Jump 2 of 5. Board is green; engaging FTL in 5" Carmine felt like the cockpit was being stretched as the FTL drive engaged. Seconds later they were looking out at a different star system. After checking their position, Carmine checked in with Joker. "Jump 2 completed, we're beginning our sweep, over."

"Roger, continue your sweep and report anything significant at the designated time over." Joker replied. "Copy Normandy, we are beginning sweep, over and out." Carmine said, settling back in his seat.

Carmine craned his head to check on his rear gunner, James "Vegas" Vega. The two had enjoyed a friendly rivalry on the SR-2, in battle and at the poker table, he'd specifically asked for James to join him on this run in so he wouldn't go insane from the boredom.

"How're you holding up back there?" Vegas turned his head to look at his friend.  
"Fine, all quiet on my end. Any word on if we found anything yet? I'm getting bored out of my skull here" the large marine replied.  
"Just that those asteroids are rich in eezo and something else that doesn't fit on the periodic table." James shook his head.  
"We are Alliance marines, Ironclad, we have better things to do than wander space to look at rocks!"  
"Amen to that" Carmine agreed. "Still, imagine if we did find something or someone out here? " Carmine asked his friend.  
"Well, I for one am not really qualified for first cont…" James' voice trailed off.  
"Vegas?" Carmine asked.  
"Picking up something on long range sensors, looks like another planet" Vegas turned his head to look at Carmine, "Think we should check it out?"  
"Drop a Nav-buoy with our location and where were heading first, then I'll take us in to check it out." Carmine replied.

As Vega prepped the Nav-buoy, Carmine checked the preliminary scans of the new contact. When Vega finished, Carmine turned the fighter and made an intra-system FTL jump.

They dropped out of FTL over a Garden World, not dissimilar from Earth. They dropped into high orbit and began a complete planetary sweep. 30 minutes into the sweep, Vega noticed something odd.

"Did you see this? According to the instruments, that planet has the same atmospheric composition as Earth." Vega said.  
"Yeah, atmosphere is composed of 78% Nitrogen and 21%Oxygen. That can't a coincidence can it? Hold on, I'm picking up what looks like a city, almost directly below us. Think I'll take some pictures before heading down for a closer look, is that ok with you?" Carmine asked.  
"Yeah, I need to stretch my legs now anyway." Vega replied

As Carmine started taking pictures of the ruins, an alarm sounded in the cockpit.

"I got LADAR shadows lighting up my screen, you see them?" Vega called out.  
"Yeah, a dreadnought analogue" Carmine replied. "Normandy, we've got a dreadnought shadow on LADAR, please advise?" The only reply was static. "Patrol group Normandy, please respond" again, there was static. "We're on our own Vega."

Carmine turned the Lightning around, intending to jump back to the patrol group's last position when the dreadnought jumped in.

"Contact dreadnought directly ahead. SHIT! They're launching fighters." Carmine reported before taking evasive action. He'd seen the Dreadnought jump in, an unknown design, like two capital Y shapes mounted on a central axis offset by 120 degrees. The unidentified contacts had begun launching fighters, shaped similar to the stylised boomerangs Batman used.

"Incoming fighters, hang on this is going to be rough" Carmine shouted. He threw the Lightning into a hard left turn, before beginning evasive manoeuvres. The strange fighters began closing with the fleeing Lightning. Vega started firing as the fighters came into range, but the unknowns didn't return fire. After several minutes the enemy craft closed to nearly 1/3rd the range of Vega's turret and began firing, tracer fire streaked past the Alliance craft. "Hey, these guys are using combustion weapons." Vega told his teammate as he noticed shell casings being ejected from below the wing roots. "It doesn't matter if they're a century behind, just keep shooting." Carmine replied.

The dogfight continued for several minutes, during which time both pilot and gunner destroyed several attacking fighters each. It seemed that no matter how many enemy aircraft were destroyed there was always more to replace them. "We're lit up like a whorehouse on payday!" Vega shouted as five enemy fighters closed and fired at once.

"Dreadnought's opened fire, I'm going to take us into the atmosphere to try and shake some of them." Carmine shouted as the dreadnought fired off a large salvo of missiles towards the Alliance scout.  
He flipped a small switch on his console, activating the Lightning's secret weapon: The Mjolnir weapons system. Alliance R&D had taken Geth pulse and plasma technology and produced a true directed energy weapon. The weapon fired plasma pulses at a target, bypassing Kinetic Barriers and doing heavy damage directly to a targets hull. Nicknamed 'Godhammers' by pilots, the Mjolnir had proven to be extremely effective against Collector Occuli.

Carmine lined up his target and depressed the trigger. The twin cannon that had deployed under the wing roots fired in an alternating pattern. The two enemy fighters hit disintegrated, leaving an opening in the wall of enemy craft. Carmine opened the throttle fully for the first time since the fight began and accelerated the Lightning through the gap before the enemy fighters close it.

The Lightning shot through the gap accelerating beyond the pursuing fighter's top speed, outpacing the incoming missiles as well. The Lightning quickly reached high orbit and began to descend. As the fighter entered the atmosphere, Carmine glanced at a small holo on the side of his instrument panel; it showed him and Tali sitting together, arms around each other, on a bench on the Citadel Presidium.  
It had been the last trip to the citadel before the Collector assault on the SR-2, both he and Tali had been struggling with their feelings for each other for a while and they had become a couple after Tali's trial, he had comforted her when her father died.  
During the following weeks they'd grown steadily closer before they had confessed their feelings and become a couple. Carmine tucked the holo into a small pocket in the undershirt he wore beneath his armour, before turning his attention back to the controls.

As the fighter descended into the atmosphere, he noticed three shuttle sized craft jump in above them, flying into the path of the enemy missile volley. One shuttle was destroyed, the second was damaged and descended on a parallel trajectory, the third successfully evaded incoming fire and jumped away.

Carmine hoped that the second group of unknowns were friendly and that help would come soon.


	2. Chapter 2

So Say We All

Chapter 2

Jane Shephard stepped out of the elevator and walked into the Normandy's CIC. She got a systems update from Specialist Traynor before continuing to the cockpit. As she came close the door separating CIC from the cockpit, she heard muffled voices. The door opened to reveal Garrus Vakarian, Kaiden Alenko and Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy talking to the Pilot Jeff 'Joker' Moreau and the mobile platform of the Ships Artificial Intelligence, EDI. They were discussing the mission.

"What I don't understand is why Normandy is leading this expedition; it would have been cheaper and easier to send a cruiser" Complained Joker.  
Tali giggled a little, "Don't lie to us Joker, your just upset your shore leave was cut short."  
Joker twisted around in his seat to look at her; "I'm owed six weeks shore leave, is it wrong to enjoy your time off? Besides, I can't imagine you were happy that your 'quality time' with the LC was cut short" replied the pilot. Tali stiffened slightly, Garrus turned to her and could have sworn he'd seen her blush through her visor.  
Before Tali could respond, Kaiden threw in his two cents; "The same can be said for you Joker, though what she sees in you I'll never know" As Joker opened his mouth to reply, he noticed Shepard walking in.

"Hey Commander, Everything's okay up here" Joker said, trying not to draw attention to the previous conversation.  
"Play nice Joker" The pilot gave his CO an incredulous look before his head snapped back to the controls.

"Anything interesting happen, Kaiden?" Shepard asked. Kaiden opened his mouth to answer before noticing something odd on Joker's console. "Joker, what's happened?" Kaiden asked

The pilot glanced at Kaiden. "I've lost contact with Echo-1, Comms are dead, there's no static, nothing."

The others glanced at each other, Shepard ordered Kaiden and Garrus to head to the next deck check the systems there, then she ordered Tali to begin a full system diagnostic scan and instructed Joker to keep trying to raise Echo-1.

After several minutes, Garrus and Kaiden returned from Deck 3, reporting the systems there checked out ok. Tali then completed her scan, with the same results.  
Joker cycled through the frequencies for a moment; He turned to Shepard, "Commander! I've got something."  
Shepard moved behind Joker as he locked the frequency, for a moment, hearing only static.

Static_… "Inco…ng fight… …ang on, thi… …s goi… …ough" _the signal fell silent, faded in and out of static for a few moments.  
Static _"…e're lit up _static_ …ke a whorehouse on payday!"  
_Everyone in the cockpit shared a shocked glance at each other before another message was heard.  
Static_ "…dreadnought's opened …ire" _Everyone one froze at the message. _"I'm goi… …o take us …nto the atmosphere. …try to shake them"_

Shepard turned to Joker "Do you have their position?" The pilot craned his head to look at her "Yeah, and I know what you're thinking Commander but we can't. What can four frigates do against a dreadnought?" He replied  
"I don't like it either Shepard, but we have to wait for reinforcements. The odds of succeeding against even one dreadnought aren't good" Garrus said to his best friend. Shepard turned to look at him; he could see the pain in her eyes. Neither of them liked leaving people behind.

Shepard turned back to Joker and told him to inform Admiral Hackett before turning and heading for the CIC. The others exchanged a glance before Garrus and Kaiden followed her into the CIC, Tali remained for several minutes before turning around and heading for the elevator.

Garrus stepped down into the pit of the war room as Shepard was talking to Admiral Turner. He waited for a few minutes as Shepard continued to argue. She emerged a few minutes later, kicking the Holo-table hard when she reached it. "We've been ordered to fall back and regroup with the main body of our fleet. Turner wants numerical superiority in case there's more than one dreadnought." Shepard said, glaring at the table.  
"It makes sense; no competent Admiral would deploy a dreadnought without support." Garrus said thoughtfully. "I may be able to persuade Admiral Atticus to deploy a small recon force to provide intelligence on this new enemy." He added as Shepard glared at him.  
Shepard nodded to him, walking around the Holo-table to the CIC as Garrus proceeded in the opposite direction to contact Admiral Atticus.

Shephard was in the CIC with Kaiden, plotting a course back to the fleet, when Garrus exited the War Room. "Atticus has agreed to send the 7th Squadron to Echo-1's last known co-ordinates." Garrus told them as he approached the Galaxy Map.  
Kaiden whistled, "That's six Frigates, three cruisers and the Invicta." Shephard nodded her agreement. The 7th squadron was a mixed unit with 7 Turian vessels and 3 Alliance vessels. It operated under Turian command as part of an inter-service exchange programme.  
The Alliance contingent were the frigates SSV Assaye and SSV Stalingrad, Assaye being a standard Sevastopol class frigate and Stalingrad being a Normandy class stealth frigate.  
Invicta, however, was a unique ship; one of only two built, her sister being the SSV Graf Spee which was still under construction. They were a new class of ship, too large for a conventional cruiser but too small to be classed as a true dreadnought. It was armed with twin cruiser grade Mass Accelerator Cannons, a powerful dial-purpose intermediate broadside battery (that could function as dedicated anti-ship cannons or anti-aircraft flak guns) and an extensive GUARDIAN system including; UV-laser turrets, Counter-missile missile launchers and conventional mass accelerator turrets. Combined with a new super-coolant Dr Mordin Solus developed, these ships possessed considerable combat capabilities and endurance.  
The ship also possessed a dedicated flight deck. It was arranged with hanger doors at the bow and stern which could be opened to reveal a runway under the main hull with several lifts on both sides to carry fighters, bombers, gunships and shuttles from the runway to the hanger bays. The ships compliment was 1 squadron of fighters, 1 squadron of interceptors, 8 A-65 Lightnings, 4 shuttles and 8 dropships.

The Turian complement, however, consisted of 4 Trebin class frigates and 2 Menai class Flak-Cruisers. These vessels were considered antiques a century ago, but were kept in service due to a combination of: bureaucratic incompetence, it was cheaper to keep them in service than replace them and the cruisers filled a unique role modern GUARDIAN couldn't compensate for.  
The command ship was a regular Cipritine-class command cruiser, a standard cruiser hull with lighter GUARDIAN defences and main armament traded for increased sensor and communications equipment as per standard Turian doctrine.

"That's a lot of resources for one fighter," said Kaiden, looking to Shephard.  
"My crew are known to be the best," she replied, although she was curious herself as to why Atticus would put so my effort into finding one pilot.

"We still have to wait for them to find him first, the plan is to jump the 7th into the outskirts of the system and have the Stalingrad scout ahead." Garrus continued. "Then, depending on what the Stalingrad finds, the 7th will either proceed to attempt a rescue, or hang back and wait for reinforcements."

"We've been ordered to wait for the main battlegroup and the Ben Nevis and Erebus." Shephard added. "It's up to the 7th for now."

Kaiden and Garrus nodded, then returned to their posts as Shephard went to plot the ship's course on the galaxy map.

Two sickle shaped aircraft flew low over a forested valley before circling a grassy plain, at the centre of which was a city of ruins and a smouldering wreck of twisted metal. They circled the city twice before changing course to directly circle the crash site. After several minutes, the sickle shaped craft left to circle the entire plain, not knowing that their departure was being watched.

"They're focusing on the crash site and ruins," said a figure in dark grey and navy blue armour to his companion, a figure wearing very heavy and bulky navy blue armour. "They seem to be looking for the survivors of the wreck; the ones that fled into the foothills below us."

"Makes sense," the second, larger figure replied, as he turned to look towards the shuttles surviving crew and passengers, his visors built in range finder zooming in on the small group of humans that had left the crash site several hours ago. "The survivors are heading up the valley, along the opposite ridge."

"We'd better keep an eye on them," the first figure said, the second nodded and they both turned back to their aircraft, to prepare an aerial surveillance drone. They looked back as a larger craft flew overhead and landed in the foothills close to the treeline. Large mechs disembarked from the new craft and began to march into the trees.

The pair remained to watch the newcomers, the smaller seemed disturbed by the mechs, until the mechs fell back to establish a perimeter around their craft, others began to take apart something bolted to it.

The two left, when they returned to their fighter, they launched a drone to watch the survivors and manufactured and launched a second to watch the mechs. They then set up and armed several defences around their landing site and went to sleep.

The following morning, the larger of the two figures woke first. "Carmine, you up yet?" he asked, looking around the camp site, spotting his friend sleeping against a log. He walked over and kicked them still sleeping pilot. "Carmine?"

"I'm up, Vegas. I'm up." The newly awoken Jack Carmine muttered, blinking several times to help his eyes adjust to daylight. "How are our fellow stranded?" he asked as he got up and stretched.  
His companion, James 'Vegas' Vega, went to check the monitoring equipment; "The wreck survivors are halfway up the valley on the other slope, the clankers are still where they landed."  
"I think we'd better take a closer look at both parties, find out what we can," Carmine suggested, now standing next to Vega and looking at the two screens. Vega nodded and they both went to collect their weapons.

The two men spent the next two hours crossing the valley, eventually arriving at the survivor's camp. There were three of the seven survivors present, one on guard duty and the second was tending to the third's injuries.  
"The rest are further down the valley, they won't be back for at least thirty minutes," Vega said. "Think we should take a closer look?"

"Concussive rounds only," Carmine replied as he unholstered his Phaeston assault rifle and put the ammo generator on a non-lethal setting. Vega nodded as he drew his M-55 Argus, repeating the modification before taking careful aim.

Socinus lay against a tree trunk in a haze, he'd been wounded in the crash and the rest of the medicine had been left at the crash site. He was currently being watched by Seelix as Crashdown kept an eye on the perimeter.

He turned his head to look at the ridge behind Seelix and spotted movement on the height, he tried to warn Seelix but his limbs were sluggish from both his injuries and the meds. He could only watch, helpless, as two faint gunshots rang out and both Seelix and Crashdown collapsed.

He sat paralysed by fear for several moments before trying to free Seelix's service pistol from the holster on her hip, made difficult by the fact she'd fallen on her side, by the time he'd retrieved the pistol there were two armoured figures entering the camp.

He froze, watching as the larger figure in bulky dark blue and black body armour, very much unlike the suits worn by marines or the handful of remaining army and riot police personnel went to Crashdown and attached his rifle to a metal plate on his back. The rifle then telescoped into a more compact form and the figure's arm glowed orange and was surrounded by orange shapes that formed an odd gauntlet.

He watched in fascination as the figure tapped at the gauntlet with the fingers of his right hand and a small screen shot up and an angled beam of light swept over Crashdown and then the makeshift supply shelter behind him. Socinus was so focused on the larger figure, he didn't notice the second figure in slimmer armour approach him and Seelix. He jumped as best he could when a similar scanning beam raked over his body. He turned and found himself looking through a tinted visor into a pair of deep blue eyes which flicked briefly from the image of a human males body to look at Socinus before going back to the floating image. Socinus watched as the scan completed and the image glowed red in several spots, the same places he was injured. He watched the figure step back and pull a small pack from a pouch on his waist, he tried but failed to raise the pistol in his defence and the figure pulled it from his grip.  
The figure opened Socinus' flight jacket and exposed his wounds before pouring the contents of the pack, some kind of translucent gel, onto the wounds. The wound suddenly went cold before a soothing sensation began to spread through the tissue. He tensed but then relaxed; the figure applied a clean dressing over the gel before rising to leave, taking the pistol with him and lifting the service and maintenance manual for the pistol from Seelix.

The two figures came together and then left leaving Socinus in a confused haze, realising the two figures were not cylons, but if they weren't cylons, who were they?

It was in this unfocused state that Chief Tyrol and Cally found him in several minutes later, Baltar arriving just as Seelix and Crashdown woke up. They glanced around briefly before looking around the camp frantically before realising the others had returned.

Seelix panicked and immediately went to check on Socinus. Who held up a hand, surprisingly, the pain had faded and he was now far more aware of his surroundings. "I'm alright Seelix, after you two were knocked out two guys came into the camp, one of them used some kind of gel to the wounds. It's incredible, the pains gone and I can feel the wound healing," he said, to the group's shock and disbelief. Both Baltar and Seelix peered under the dressing to find the wound healing quickly and cleanly, they both agreed it was best to leave the dressing for now.

Crashdown was furious they'd been taken out so easily, but this was rebuffed by Socinus who pointed out both he and Seelix were still alive, they'd apparently used some sort of handheld computer to scan the camp (Baltar was very interested by the holographic gauntlets and the possibility of such advanced computers) but had also taken the pistol and the manual.

"I don't think their cylons; otherwise they would have killed us right?" He said, everyone, including Crashdown, nodded. "But they didn't kill us; in fact they helped me and seemed to be trying to learn about us by scanning the camp. Hades, they took the manual for the service pistol which may mean they're going to try and translate it by using the diagrams and pistol for a reference."

"I agree," Baltar said quietly but clearly, "We clearly aren't a credible threat, in fact they seem to be studying us. Which means… we may have stumbled on survivors of those left behind when the colonies left or they belong to a survey group of another civilisation," he mused, thinking the facts over carefully.

"Or they could be from Earth," Seelix said excitedly, the statement hanging in the air as everyone considered the implications.

"Let's not jump to conclusions, we should focus on staying safe," Baltar replied, he'd considered the option but other than the fact the trespassers appeared human there was no evidence for that theory.

"Which means we focus on scrapping the cylons on this rock," Crashdown stated, everyone nodded and they began to plan.

Several miles away, Carmine and Vega were doing the same thing while observing the cylons directly.

"Looks like their building a SAM launcher using the missile rack and sensor gear from the transport," Vega noted.  
"Looks like they're hoping to trap any SAR attempts, makes sense as this lot are stranded and their carrier likely can't spare more than a few ships," Carmine said, pointing to the large craft nearby that was missing many components.  
"Think we can jam it instead of blowing it up?" Vega asked.  
"Maybe, but the survivors don't know we can do that and may get killed trying to take out a sensor dish that they don't know doesn't work," Carmine pointed out.  
"Ok, we'll blow it up once we detect a new SAR craft," Vega said before both men got up and left.

The next two days were spent prepping for the attack and watching the survivors. They were contacted by the 7th squadron late in the first day; the Stalingrad was in orbit and in position to extract them. They requested that extraction be held off until observation of the two landing parties and investigation of the city and a small underground complex to the northwest was complete, the Stalingrad relayed their message and the request was granted with the Stalingrad keeping out of sight but close enough to assist. Copies of the service manual and scans of the pistol were sent to Stalingrad in order to help translate the language, as of yet the two stranded soldiers had yet to make anything more than basic translations. Radio silence fell shortly afterward and nothing of note occurred for 24 hours.

That was when two shuttles matching the one shot down by the city appeared, they quickly detonated the explosives they'd secretly planted at the sensor dish and watched as the mechs scattered before rallying to attack the other survivors. They learned the group belonged to a faction called 'the colonials', the radio traffic helping the translating immensely, and watched as the mechs were destroyed before anyone else was killed and the survivors were evacuated.

"Now we can investigate the tomb in peace," Vega said as the shuttles departed.  
"Let's go," Carmine said, looking away from the departing shuttles and heading back to their fighter.

They spent the next two days after moving the fighter examining the 'Tomb'. The tomb was a small mausoleum with sarcophagi corresponding to the signs of the zodiac. There were statues representing each sign; a centaur archer for Sagittarius, a scorpion for Scorpio, a goat for Aries etc. they spent several hours of both days scanning the tomb and the bodies in the sarcophagi, which were alarmingly close to Prothean physiology but they'd need Javik to confirm or deny that. The living ancient had been busy since a second Prothean bunker with 7000 people had been found outside the Eden Prime colony, he was slightly saddened it was a civilian complex but admitted civilians would be better suited to rebuilding than soldiers.

They continued until the Stalingrad radioed to say multiple ships had entered the system and were approaching the planet. The pair began collecting their equipment when they were told shuttles were descending to the surface. They left the tomb hastily and returned to their landing site.

They were nearly finished loading up the A-65 when a voice echoed over the landing site.

"Who the Frak are you?"

They turned, drawing their rifles as they did to find the ridge behind them bristling with men and guns.


	3. Chapter 3

cSo Say We All

Chapter 3

"Well, this is a fine mess we're in, isn't it?"

Carmine looked over at his fellow prisoner, who was looking between the different guards and the third prisoner in the oddly designed and built cell at the heart of the brig of the massive warship they were now aboard, they'd been captured by a ground team made up of a mix of smugglers, retired soldiers, former pirates and 'reformed' terrorists along with a few priests a pair of politicians and several deserters, but not before locking out their technology and turning their translators off.

The guards, a watching flag officer and the third prisoner were all straining to understand the two foreign soldiers.

"And what can we do about it?" Carmine asked Vega sarcastically, "We're currently being held by the military of an extra solar human nation, who don't speak English, in a cell that's as heavily guarded as Fort Knox, on a warship as large as a city, which we have no way of finding our way around on and we have no idea how to fly one of their craft."

"So, basically…"

"We're stuck until _Stalingrad_ reports back," Carmine finished before checking his pockets for a pack of cards he remembered he had.

The guards and the other prisoner tensed as Carmine searched for and removed the pack of cards but relaxed as they saw that the parcel contents were similar to a pack of Triad cards.

* * *

As Carmine began a game of solitaire to the fascination of everyone watching but Vega, a meeting was began several decks above.

"Thank you all for coming," Commander William Adama greeted as everyone present sat down, "I take it you all know why you are here?"

"To discuss the two foreign soldiers in the brig," a dark haired man replied.

"That is correct Mr Zarek," Commander Adama confirmed.

"What do you mean by Foreign?" the Aerilon member of the Quorum asked, voicing the question of most of the other eleven delegates of the body.

"What I mean," Tom Zarek said leaning forwards onto the conference room table, "is that those two soldiers do not come from the colonies, do not understand any colonial standard language, verbally or written, their armour is decorated by symbols, emblems and script we can only guess about, their weapons are literally out of a science-fiction movie and their fighter craft possesses technology, particularly computers, that make anything the colonies had before the war or the cylons now look as antiquated as a horse drawn cart."

There was a shocked silence for several seconds before, of all people, Gaius Baltar spoke up, "When we were on the surface of Kobol, Specialist Socinus saw them take out both Crashdown and Seelix with a single shot each but without killing them. The pair then entered the camp, I admit the Specialist's testimony is shaky as he wasn't entirely lucid, but he mentions how the larger soldier had a holographic gauntlet light up on his arm and began pressing what looked like holographic controls and a beam of angled light swept over the unconscious personnel and then the equipment and supplies in the camp, supposedly a projection showed an analysis of what was being examined." Baltar began, his expression initially neutral but quickly giving way to curiosity and anxiety.

"Socinus then attempted to remove Seelix's revolver but took so long the second soldier arrived, who turned on a similar gauntlet and began to scan Socinus," Baltar stopped as a chorus of disbelieving noises went around the room, before Commander Adama called for silence.

"Please continue, Doctor," The commander said, looking very curious at what he was hearing.

"As I was saying," Baltar continued, "He ran a scan of Socinus, who claims that a projection of a human male came up and there were several areas highlighted in red, the same places as where his injuries were on his body." He continued stopping as everyone was shocked into silence again.

"That kind of technology could revolutionise our ability to treat patients," The Galactica's Chief Medical Officer, and the fleet's only qualified medical professional, Doctor Sherman Cottle exclaimed.

"And that's not all," Baltar added, drawing everyone's attention again, "He then applied a translucent gel to the wounds and a dressing, which began healing the wounds instantly, without it Socinus would be dead, instead he's currently on light duty with the LSO, am I right Chief?"

There were a few loud protests before Galen Tyrol cut them off, "Yeah, Seelix said that even with the med kit we recovered from the downed Raptor he would have died anyway if that gel hadn't been applied, we also suspect that they could have been responsible for the explosions that gutted the cylon base camp, Dradis dish and launcher, but there's no proof of that last," Tyrol confirmed.

Cottle grunted, "That gel is a miracle medicine, while I did have to operate, it took care of a lot of the damage on its own, all I did was fix what it missed," he said.

Everyone was again shocked into silence.

"Socinus also mentioned that the one who treated him took the revolver from him along with a service manual for it, both of which have been returned," Baltar finished making many look at him curiously.

"Why would they take the weapon and the manual? From what I heard their guns were more advanced," Saul Tigh asked.

"Their guns _ARE_ more advanced, in fact they seem to be miniaturised coil guns that generate immense heat when they fire that needs to be dissipated, I believe they were attempting to understand our written language by using the revolver and archive knowledge of their equivalents as a reference," Baltar explained.

"Coil guns?" asked a blonde woman three chairs down from Tigh wearing a pilot's uniform, "I thought they were only feasible for battlestar armaments, how did they scale it down?"

"I don't know," Baltar admitted, it was a point that had stumped him too. "As I can't access them due to a computer lockout I can only guess but what little data I have gained doesn't entirely comply with the laws of physics."

"What do you mean by that?" the officer sitting next to blonde woman said, he was a tall man with black hair and a handsome face.

"I mean I can't explain what I'm seeing, Captain Adama, and the Military was experimenting with coil gun based armaments, particularly the Onager series mounts which were fitted to the _Pacifica,_ _Acheron_ and WS-125, Lieutenant Thrace," Baltar answered.

"WS-125?" Zarek asked, not familiar with that designation.

"An old Warstar that was refitted to test the new systems, it wasn't given a name during the war," Baltar said.

Commander Adama and Colonel Tigh were thoughtful for a moment; the Warstars were pre-War Caprican and Tauron Dreadnoughts that were added to the Colonial fleet under a new designation after the war.

The vessels were basically a Columbia or Galactica hull with heavier Armament traded for the two flight pods, they bore the same tremendous weight of fire to the fore, port, starboard, dorsal and ventral fire arcs.

One Warstar had the firepower of two Columbia class ships or three Armageddon class 'pocket' Battlestars but traded it for virtually no fighter compliment of their own, relying instead on dedicated escort carriers or Battlestars to cover them.

WS-125 was one of over two dozen capital ships from the Fifth (Reserve) fleet that were unaccounted for after the fall.

On paper the fleet was made of 34 Orion-class Battlestars (Osiris from Blood and Chrome) and 5 Warstars, in reality the crews had traded the Orions for the 16 laid up Armageddon class vessels (a Galactica class scaled down by a third) and 6 Bezerk-class cruisers with 2 Loki-class Heavy cruisers as command ships, all the ships had been upgraded to the standard of the rest of the Fleet until the installation of the CNP, which they refused to use, and were able to defeat the cylon attack force sent after them before leaving before cylon reinforcements could arrive, and according to the copy of Sharon Valerii in the brig the Fifth fleet was still at large at the point where she seduced Helo Agathon.

"So who are they" Lieutenant Karl 'Helo' Agathon asked from Tigh's other side, "Where are they from?"

A heavy silence followed the question.

"We don't know," Baltar admitted. "It has been speculated that they are from the Thirteenth tribe but I have no evidence beyond the fact they are not natives, personally I think they're from a world where a human race evolved on its own separately to the colonies and the thirteenth."

"Is that possible?" the Gemenon delegate asked.

"It happened on Kobol, who's to say it can't happen on a world with similar if not identical conditions," Baltar replied.

"Have there been any attempts to communicate with them?" a red haired woman at the head of the table asked.

Commander Adama looked at the woman, Laura Roslin, President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. "They do not understand us, however I placed them in the same cell as the cylon, the cylons have shown a remarkable ability to adapt so I have made them cellmates in the hope that she will be able to learn their language from listening to them and act as a translator," Commander Adama explained, Roslin kept her face neutral but her eyes betrayed her, she couldn't fault the logic behind the strategy but was loath to involve a cylon even a defector.

The Leonis delegate sneered, "We're supposed to trust a toaster?"

"She insists that she has turned her back on the others and only wants to help, the only way to prove she _has_ defected is for her to start working for us and actually show she's loyal through the results of her work, but so far there have been no openings where we can reduce the risk of any sabotage that could take place without putting her at risk from a mistrustful or openly hostile crew," Captain Lee Adama replied, before adding, "she could potentially be a powerful asset if she has truly defected due to her superior knowledge of the modern cylon systems and weapons and the methods of reasoning for the leadership."

The Leonis delegate grunted a grudging acknowledgment.

"So, until the cylon's observations bear fruit we sit and wait?" the Picon delegate asked.

"Unfortunately," Tom confirmed.

"There's something else," Baltar mentioned, getting up and walking over to a projector, he aimed it at the white board on the wall before taking a pair of slides out of a folder and placing one of them on the projector and turned it on.

The group watched as a projection of a photograph lit up the board, it showed one of the soldiers in the brig sitting next to a feminine figure wearing a full body suit, a polarised visor, a purple patterned hood and wearing knee high white books of a strange material that resembled old fashioned greaves.

They were sitting very closely; her head was resting on his shoulder, his right hand around her waist while his left held her hand. They appeared to be in a park.

"Why are we looking at this? What's so important?" the Leonis delegate scoffed.

"Look at the woman, the hands and feet in particular," Baltar pressed.

The entire group studied the photo silently for several seconds.

"Her legs are bent," the Picon delegate mused, "Unnaturally so."

"She has only two fingers and a thumb," Helo realised. "And only two large toes."

"Three toes actually," Baltar corrected idly as everyone else gaped at the realisation.

"She's an alien," Thrace said quietly.

"It appears so," Baltar confirmed, swapping out the slides quickly. "And it would appear she isn't the only species." He added, pointing out three other clearly alien beings in a close up of part of the background.

There were two tall beings with metallic skin; mandibles and a crest of spines on their heads wearing an armoured uniform were apparently talking to a blue skinned woman with no eyebrows and what looked like tentacles for hair and a human in a futuristic grey suit.

"By the Gods!" the Canceron delegate exclaimed.

"But this is impossible," the Gemenon delegate declared, "Heretical! The Sacred Scrolls say that the Gods created humanity…"

"But they don't say the Gods created humanity exclusively, they don't mention that the Gods _didn't_ create other races as well," Baltar pointed out.

The Gemenon delegate bristled but deflated as he thought it over and realised that Baltar was right.

"What do we do?" Lee asked, First Contact Protocol existed but was only taught to Commanders and Staff officers but with their situation most of that protocol would now be useless.

"We put together a First Contact package in case we need it," Tom Zarek replied firmly, "It may seem redundant if we can communicate with our guests but we may find ourselves wanting when we meet their authorities if we don't have one."

"And what about the Cylons?" the blonde woman, Thrace, asked, making the tension in the room rise.

"We tell the truth," President Roslin said, "The whole truth and we warn them about the forces no doubt shadowing us, if there are several species including this branch of humanity living in, I presume, harmony with each other, we must do what we can to avoid unnecessary conflict."

"And what if they use AI? And what if they've avoided their own rebellion or managed to make peace?" Helo asked, nearly everyone sent him an incredulous or angry look but Roslin, Adama and Baltar, to their credit, didn't even raise an eyebrow.

"It is a possibility we must consider," Baltar said softly, looking to Roslin, "after all, just because we've had bad experiences doesn't mean these others have, especially as we don't know the cylon's reasoning for the attack, for all we know the Colonial Military may have deliberately provoked them and found itself out of its depth."

Adama looked pained by Baltar's veiled accusation but nodded in understanding, the man did have a point.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Roslin said, "for now we focus on the first contact package and communicating with our guests."

"So say we all," Commander Adama said.

"So say we all," the room repeated.

The assembled group left their seats and most began leaving the room, either to return to their posts or the shuttles that brought them aboard, except for three people.

Adama, Roslin and Baltar waited until everyone else left and the door closed before speaking.

"What do we say to the fleet?" Baltar asked, looking worriedly between Roslin and Adama, "It's not exactly a secret we picked up some guests on Kobol and a strange craft."

"We should wait until we can communicate with them," Adama said quickly, having thought it over on the Raptor coming back, "as loathe as I am to trust a cylon, particularly this model, she's our best shot at being able to understand each other's languages."

"Alright, but what about the slides? We can't keep the existence of aliens quiet forever, especially if we're potentially entering their space and one of the guests is in a relationship with one," Baltar continued.

"I'll call a press conference and say we found a landing site and we have some evidence to suspect it was a non-colonial or cylon group who were there," Roslin explained, "There's enough of the truth without giving too much away."

"That'll have to do," Baltar murmured, Adama and Roslin heard him, "And pray to the Gods someone doesn't try to start a _Holy War._"

Baltar left and headed back to his lab, leaving both senior officials to consider his statement, they both decided to visit their guests.

Baltar entered his lab and locked the door, he'd become more cautious since Starbuck had walked in on him in an embarrassing position.

"Why so troubled Gaius?"

Baltar didn't need to turn around to know the sultry feminine voice belonged to the apparition of the woman he once loved on Caprica, "I'm troubled by what has been learned about those soldiers, what little we know threatens to unravel everything we know about our galaxy. I am also troubled by the possible cylon reaction," he explained to his unusual companion.

"Do not worry, it is all a part of God's plan," the beautiful blonde woman replied.

"_That's_ why I worry," Baltar snapped back. "These outsiders change everything, especially if they're not the thirteenth tribe. A month ago I could only dream of such technology as theirs, and I'm sure your mortal counterparts were the same, I fear that the cylons will have the same anti-human reaction and start a war, one we'll be caught in the middle of."

"You're right," the blonde conceded, looking worried for the first time since Baltar had known her. "They do change everything, they are from Earth, but not the same Earth as the Thirteenth, the name is just a coincidence. Like the colonies they reached out to the stars, but unlike the colonies, they found they weren't alone."

"And they've grown from that interaction," Baltar surmised.

"They didn't follow the same path as the colonies, their technology is different, as is their culture, they have dealt with a race like the cylons before and were instrumental in ending the hostilities between the creator and created peacefully, I fear that will not be so this time," the blonde continued.

"They've dealt with such a situation before? A nation carried by a refugee fleet due to their predecessor's folly?" Baltar asked, gaining a nod from the blonde.

"One of the pair was there that day," the blonde said.

"Do you know what they are capable of against their foes?" Baltar asked fearfully.

The blonde's face reflected his feelings, "They have emerged from a war, caused by a cycle of destruction millions of years old by machines that you could not imagine in your worst nightmares, on a galactic scale, they _alone_ do not have the forces to face the cylons but their allies will not ignore an attack on those that made their survival not only possible but reality, and none of them will show mercy on a nation that commits itself to complete genocide. The cylons will have to accept peace if the wish to survive, and you will have to give up any chance of revenge," the blonde said, and then disappeared as Baltar blinked.

He went back to his thoughts for a moment and then returned to work, his last thought on the subject was 'I hope Roslin and Adama know what they're doing.'

* * *

"What the Frak Happened?" One demanded.

"There was a scout craft orbiting the planet when we jumped in, we believed it was Colonial and attempted to eliminate it but it proved too advanced and the crew too capable. They successfully held of several squadrons of Raiders before escaping the net using some form of Directed-Energy-Weapon, we then fired a volley of missiles but they outran them, fortunately the Colonial's Raptors jumped into the missile's paths, one was destroyed and another damaged but the last retreated, a day later the Basestar guarding the planet was destroyed," a Five reported, which was unusual as this particular Five was a known opponent to the attack on the Colonies.

"And _How_ did a single scout fighter destroy so many raiders? How did you fail to destroy it?" the One snapped.

"It accelerated beyond the Raider's top speed," an Eight replied, "they only cornered it after jumping ahead, it's weapons had a range advantage and did severe damage in a short space of time."

"There also appeared to be an energy field blocking the Raider's shots," the Five added.

"Such things are merely fiction," the One said dismissively.

"I've seen the recorded footage," The Four retorted, "There was a strange blue field deflecting the Raider's fire."

The One seethed as the Two's, Three's, Sixes and other Five's looked both intrigued and worried at this news.

"If that was the effect on a two seat fighter…" the speaking Five began.

"Imagine what the effect on a Battlestar will be," the speaking Three completed.

"Not good," one of the Two's mumbled, "not good at all."

"Could this be a craft of the Thirteenth…"

"NO!" The speaking One snapped, "The Thirteenth destroyed themselves centuries ago, the only known survivors ended the last war and are responsible for both our organic bodies and the Resurrection technology. Unless more survived, this is another, separate branch of Humanity," he said angrily.

"And there _is_ a possibility of both having happened," the speaking Five pointed out.

"I think it would be best to back off and observe until we're sure either way," the speaking Two said.

"What? We could destroy _Galactica_ the moment they stop for resources, we can't back off," the speaking Three cried.

"And we or they could stumble on this other branch of Humanity or another race, if we start throwing nukes around without care we could end up fighting a two or, God forbid, a three front war," The speaking Two argued.

"Something we can't afford when there are over a dozen Battlestars and their escorts other than _Galactica_ unaccounted for and the Fifth Fleet at large and now possessing a civilian fleet of its own," The speaking Five added.

"I agree with Two," the speaking One said softly, cutting off the speaking Three and surprising everyone, "we're a long way from space we or the Colonials have accurately charted, there's no telling what's out here. We must move cautiously. Until further notice we only observe, we can't afford to turn this into a two or even three front war."

The others went silent and dead still as the discussed this course of action with the other members of their Lines in range.

One by one, their eyes came back into focus.

"The Twos agree,"

"The Fours agree,"

"The Fives agree,"

"The Eights agree,"

"The Sixes agree,"

"The Ones agree," The speaking One said, looking to the speaking Three who looked to be contemplating mutiny."

"The Threes agree," she muttered unhappily.

"Then it is decided, we will continue to observe _Galactica_ and its fleet while keeping our eyes open for other Colonial vessels, under _NO_ circumstances is anyone to engage without the consensus of this council," The One said, watching the Three carefully, who again looked unhappy but agreed.

"By Your Command," the others chorused.


End file.
